Washington Nursing Home Abuse and Personal Injury Lawyers

Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P.

4701 South 19th Street, Suite 300
Tacoma, Washington 98405
USA

(253) 383-5388 or (866) 454-7445

(253) 272-5105

www.rhhk.com/

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Law Firm Overview Free Consultation

Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. is an experienced and dedicated law firm located in Tacoma, Washington. Our practice areas include: personal injury, medical malpractice, truck accidents, car accidents, worksite injuries, nursing home liability, premises liability, swimming / diving accidents, maritime and boating accidents, governmental liability, dog bites, dangerous products, insurance bad faith, and recreation accidents.

Practice Areas

Additional Practice Areas: Anesthesia Errors; Hospital Negligence; Nursing Home Liability; Road Design / Maintenance; Bar / Tavern Liability; Swimming / Diving Accidents; Governmental Liability; Dog Bites / Attacks; Recreation Accidents; Dangerous Products.

Practice Areas Description

Our practice areas include:

- Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice claims can arise when people are injured by the negligent acts of a doctor, nurse, psychiatrist, dentist, chiropractor, podiatrist, hospital, or other healthcare provider. When a health care provider is determined to be legally responsible for injuring a patient, he or she is liable for the consequences of the injury, and may be required to pay compensatory damages to the injured person.

Our firm handles a variety of medical malpractice claims, including (but not limited to) those arising from:

• Birth injuries
• Surgery errors
• Missed/delayed diagnosis
• Anesthesia errors
• Hospital negligence
• Medication errors

- Car Accidents

Car accidents can result in a vast array of damages from minor to catastrophic. The attorneys at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. represent people who have suffered spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, broken bones and burns, as well as people who have died in serious accidents. There are many types of damages that may be awarded, including compensation for the following losses:

• Pain and suffering
• Disability
• Disfigurement
• Emotional distress
• Loss of opportunity to enjoy life
• Wrongful death
• Loss of current and future income
• Medical bills

- Truck Accidents

Highways and roads in the United States are filled with large trucks carrying heavy cargo. These semi trucks must necessarily share the roadways with people driving their passenger cars. When a large truck such as a semi truck, logging truck, tractor trailer or cement mixer causes an accident, the likelihood of serious injury or death is greatly increased. The lawyers at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. have extensive experience representing people who have died or suffered serious injuries in accidents involving large trucks that have left them with life long consequences and care needs.

- Motorcycle Accidents

Just as with automobile accidents, the establishment of fault after a motorcycle accident is critical. Prompt investigation of the accident by experienced attorneys and their experts is important to preserving the evidence necessary to prove fault for the accident. Establishing the contributing factors to the accident frequently involves investigating the scene of the accident, inspecting the motorcycle, and interviewing witnesses to the accident. Many times expert witnesses must be hired to perform these tasks. An attorney experienced in handling motorcycle accident cases can do this for you. The attorneys at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. have the experience, expertise and access to highly qualified expert witnesses to skillfully handle motorcycle accident cases in Tacoma, Pierce County, and throughout the State of Washington.

- Bus Accidents

Numerous factors cause bus accidents. Driver negligence, defective equipment, dangerous road or weather conditions and poor or inadequate bus maintenance all play a role. When a bus accident causes serious injury, it is essential that you act quickly to preserve key evidence – and to ensure your right to file a claim. There are statutes of limitations on personal injury lawsuits, so legal action must be taken promptly.

- Pedestrian Accidents

Pedestrians have a general duty to exercise reasonable care for their own safety, including:

• Crossing roads at designated crosswalks
• Crossing roads only when the traffic light is in their favor
• Paying attention to traffic conditions
• Using sidewalks when available
• Using the left side shoulder of the roadway facing traffic if no sidewalk
• Duty not to suddenly leave a place of safety and enter traffic

These duties are important not only for your safety, but also from a legal standpoint. Automobile insurance companies are very well aware of these laws and they work hard to avoid paying maximum benefits. As a result, obtaining strong legal representation is vital when a pedestrian suffers injuries after a car crash. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., know how to conduct a thorough investigation of your accident to determine the cause of the accident. Our attorneys understand how to prepare a legal strategy that protects your best interests.

- Maritime Injuries / Boating Accidents

Those who are employed as crew aboard boats and ships and are injured in that service have special rights and remedies under admiralty law. There is no workers compensation system such as exists in shore-based employment-related injuries, but a shipboard employee who qualifies as a seaman under the Jones Act retains the right to sue employers and co-workers. There is a whole system of law that concerns the rights and remedies of seamen injured in the service of a vessel.

- Road Design / Maintenance

If you are involved in a car accident that may be caused by poor highway design or maintenance, obtaining adequate compensation can involve complex litigation. In most circumstances, expert witnesses with backgrounds in highway design and safety must be hired to analyze your claim. You most likely will have to bring a claim against the State, a county or a city for its negligence. While the general rule of law is that roadways must be maintained in a safe condition for the users of the roadway, there is room for interpretation as to what this requires. In all likelihood, the government will deny liability for your damages and require that you prove the reasons supporting legal fault.

- Dangerous Products

Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., represents individuals and the families of individuals who have been seriously injured or killed by unsafe products. In order for a product to give rise to liability claims, the product must be deemed defective. There are three kinds of defects that can classify a product as defective: a manufacturing defect, a design defect or a marketing/labeling defect.

- Bar / Tavern Liability

A bar or tavern can be held responsible under the State’s “dram shop” laws, which prohibit the sale of alcohol:

• To a minor
• To someone who is apparently intoxicated
• After the legal hours for selling alcohol
• Without a valid liquor license

Employees of any establishment with a liquor license are required to notice whether their customers are intoxicated, and once they have identified that a customer is intoxicated, they cannot serve them any additional liquor. This seems fairly straightforward; however, a drunk driving injury victim and their family face a significant legal challenge in attempting to prove liability.

- Construction Zone Accidents

There are two primary groups of people who are vulnerable to construction zone accidents—motorists and individuals working in a construction zone. Construction workers and flaggers are at great risk for serious injury or wrongful death in a construction zone because they must work in close proximity to moving vehicles.

- Worksite / Construction Accidents

The experienced personal injury attorneys at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., are familiar with worksite accidents and can thoroughly evaluate your case to determine fault and establish proof in the eyes of the court. We have handled a variety of worksite/construction injury claims including trench collapses, falls into elevator shafts and a defective scaffolding case where substantial recoveries were made for the clients.

- Nursing Home Liability

Nursing homes, including retirement, and convalescent and assistant living facilities, are intended to provide people with a safe and comfortable residence or environment for convalescence from accidents or surgeries, or residential alternative for their golden years. These facilities are required to provide a basic level of medical care as well as assistance with day-to-day activities such as dressing, hygiene, and meals. A failure of these facilities to provide adequate medical care, to follow medication instructions, or to provide security for their residents, can result in catastrophic and tragic consequences. There are statutes in Washington that protect specific classes of residents including elder care and elder abuse statutes. Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. has handled many cases involving death and serious harm due to nursing home negligence.

- Slip and Fall / Premises Liability

Our attorneys are well versed in premises liability law and can assess for you what your status on the property was – invitee, licensee, or trespasser – and the nature and extent of the owner’s duty to you. If a duty owed to you was violated, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, including, but not limited to, your medical expenses, your lost income and your pain and suffering.

- Swimming / Diving Accidents

At Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P. we have successfully represented several clients who have been seriously injured or killed as a result of swimming and diving accidents that have occurred in a wide variety of settings. Examples of our successful experiences include representation of a spinal cord injured high school swimmer who was injured as a result of negligence of high school swimming coaches; representation of a teenage boy who sustained a spinal cord injury as a result of negligence of homeowners in regard to their backyard swimming pool; the family of a young child who drowned at a lake due to inadequate lifeguard supervision; representation of a young man who sustained a spinal cord injury as a result of diving into a county owned swimming pool that failed to enforce mandated safety regulations.

- Governmental Liability

The lawyers at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., have successfully held the State of Washington and various municipalities accountable for serious injuries and deaths caused by the their negligent conduct. Our lawyers have successfully sued the Department of Corrections for the negligent release from custody of dangerous prisoners and for its failures in the required supervision of parolees or persons on work release who later injure or kill innocent people. In addition, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) has been held liable for failing to adequately supervise caregivers who negligently or intentionally cause harm to their adult or child wards. Even police agencies, whose officers negligently fail to remove dangerous individuals from the highway when they had an opportunity to do so, can be held accountable for serious injuries and death that result.

- Dog Bites / Attacks

When a dog attack causes serious injury, it is important that you promptly obtain the assistance of an attorney experienced in dog bite and animal attack cases. Your attorney can secure the evidence and obtain witness statements that will be necessary to prove liability. Statutes of limitations limit the amount of time you have to bring a claim, so legal action should be taken quickly to protect your rights. The lawyers at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., have handled numerous dog attack cases and recovered substantial damages for the victims.

- Recreation Accidents

If you are seriously injured in a recreational setting, you will need an attorney who is experienced in assessing the legal standards that apply to your injury because the applicable legal standards vary depending on factors that are probably unknown and unsuspected by you as you start to deal with your injury. At Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., we have successfully represented clients who have been seriously injured and families of those who have died in a wide variety of recreational settings. Examples of our successful experience include death due to guide negligence on Mt. Kilimanjaro, the negligence of a high school’s swimming coaches, the design of a high school football stadium that did not conform to recognized safety standards and the negligence of Washington State in failing to maintain its state campgrounds free of dangerously rotted trees, as well as many other settings in which our clients or their loved ones were seriously injured or killed.

- Insurance Bad Faith / Unfair Conduct

When insurance contracts are debated in court the legal interpretation of insurance policy language is a complex issue. As a result, the assistance of a qualified attorney is vital when making a claim that an insurance company has acted unfairly. The trial lawyers at Rush, Hannula, Harkins & Kyler, L.L.P., have the experience and skill to prepare effective legal arguments to help you recover insurance benefits that you are rightfully entitled to under the terms of your insurance policy. Your insurance company has an internal legal department as well as private law firms working hard to protect its interests. You deserve the same protection.

Attorneys

	Mr. Daniel L. Hannula Attorney Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury, Product Liability		Mr. Vernon W. Harkins Attorney Government, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury
	Mr. Daniel R. Kyler Attorney Business Litigation, Insurance, Medical Malpractice, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury